CHICAGO, July16. (AP)Rocky Graziano, the "dead end" guy from New York ,proved himself a dead-game guy tonight by rising from the floor to win the world middleweight championship from Tony Zale on a technical knockout at 2:10 of the sixth round in their return bout before 18,546 fans in Chicago Stadium.
Graziano's gameness was questioned by many experts last September 27 when Rocky was knocked out at 1:43 of the sixth round of his first bout with Zale. But tonight the shaggy-haired, awkward and muscular Italian absorbed a terrific battering for the first four rounds until - with blood streaming from his left brow and with his right eye almost closed he began to catch up with the hero of last year in the fifth round.
Lone Knockdown
During tonight's terrific battle ring, Zale registered the lone knockdown of the bout by driving Graziano to one knee with a terrific right to the jaw in the third round. Rocky, though badly hurt, was up before the count of one was completed.
It seemed then that Zale – the 33-year-old ex-steelworker from Gary, Ind. - would be certain to retain his 160-pound crown in his second defence of it.
But the challenger's head hooks staggered Zale several times in the fourth round and 'they gave him such a murderous smashing in the sixth that Zale went reeling around the ring, with Rocky throwing his fists like hammers at him. Zale swayed this way and that, and finally fell nearly to the canvas, backward in a neutral corner. However, the ropes prevented him from completing the fall; and he did not go down.
Falls Into Ropes
Zale managed to stagger out of the corner with Rocky after him. Boom! boom! Thudded Graziano's heavyfists into the helpless champion's face until Zale - with blood flowing from his lips and his face battered like a plum pudding - fell forward half way through the ropes, until the count of knockdown timekeeper Joe Lipp had reached "two."
At that instant, Referee Johnny Behr intervened and helped Zale out of the ropes, meanwhile motioning Graziano to his corner and ending the fight in a fashion that was merciful to Zale and a technical knockout victory for Graziano.
In the dressing room, Zale and His handlers announced that they had a contract for a return bout with Graziano within 90 days at a site to be designated later.
Zale said that the terrific heat In the Stadium began to "get" him in the fifth round, and he weakened speedily.
Graziano, mobbed by a swarm of admirers and newspapermen, in the dressing room, said: "My most damaging punches were several right and left hooks in the sixth round. You can't say I got him with any one - it was all of them." Co-managers Irving Cohen and Jack Healy said Graziano's next opponent would be Zale,but they had no preference for a site. Graziano experienced the happiest moments of his life. The 25- year-old New Yorker was jubilant, although he is not recognized as champion yet in his home state of New York.
The New York boxing commission took away his license last February because of his failure to report three offers of $100,000 bribes. At the same time the commission cancelled his return bout with Zale, which had been scheduled for Madison Square Garden. New York, on March 21.
Biggest Indoor Gate
Zale, who scored 159 pounds just one under the middleweight limit made a much better showing during the early rounds tonight than he did last September when he weighed 160. Graziano, scaling 155,was much slower in getting away in September when he weighed 154. But he made a successful finish.
Tonight's grand battle provided many thrills for the crowd paid a gross gate of 5415.126 largest indoor gate for a fight of any kind in ring history. The crowd ' of 18,547,however,did not approach the record indoor aggregation of 233,320which witnessed the Jack Dempsey-Kingfish Levinsky bout in the Chicago stadium, Feb. 18,1932. The former indoor gate record was $201,603, attracted by the heavyweight bout between
Jim Maloney and Jack Delaney at New York’s Madison Square garden Feb 18,1927.
Zale, who received 40 per cent of the net gatewas believed to have earned $150,000 from the gate alone tonight, in addition to 40 per cent of the $30,000 that was paid by a sponsor for the radio rights. Graziano received about $75,000 from the gate and 20 per cent of the radio receipts